5 WWE superstars who started very young in the WWE

Divas’ Champion by age 21WWE is the top pro-wrestling company in the world, and it took effort, time and talent to make it. A lot of wrestlers spend years in the independent circuit trying to learn their skills and master their craft, just to get noticed by Vince McMahon’s company.Some wrestlers, however, made it to WWE really quick. They were either born into the business or started wrestling at a really young age. One wrestler on this list has also held the record for being the youngest World champion in history until it was broken by another person on the list. The list ranges chronologically, with the oldest being first and the most recent being last.

#1 X-Pac

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Before X-Pac was the crotch-chopping, Broncho-busting wildcard of D-Generation X, he had begun training under Boris and Joe Malenko, and constantly switched between Japan and North America in independent promotions. Four years later, at the age of twenty-one,

WWE (then WWF) had signed him and he debuted as The Lightning Kid, a persona he had only for his tryout match. After he received a contract, he officially debuted as The Kamikaze Kid, at one point scoring a famous upset win over Razor Ramon.

With this, he took up the popular 1-2-3 Kid persona, in which he was half underdog-half jobber but was over with the crowds. One of the 1-2-3 Kid’s most famous matches was a long bout with Bret Hart on an episode of RAW, for the WWE Championship.

He would lose, of course, but it was a surprise at the time. In his last match, before going to WCW, he lost to Savio Vega. Upon his return after two years, he introduced his X-Pac gimmick, and, well, the rest is history.

#2 Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy debuted in WWE a lot earlier than some people think. In 1994, when Jeff Hardy was only seventeen years old, he debuted as a television jobber for WWE, for three years, in fact, trading around ring names and appearing rarely. He face Razor Ramon aka WWE Hall Of Famer Scoot Hall on debut.

Eventually, Jeff and his brother Matt started up their own promotions, the most prominent of which was the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA). Interestingly, this is where Hardy first used his ‘Willow The Wisp’ gimmick which he used in TNA at one point.

Eventually, this got both brothers noticed, and Jeff officially signed with WWE in 1998, aged twenty-one. Hardy would, of course, go on to become one of the most unorthodox wrestlers WWE has ever seen, but that’s a story for another day. He’s back in the WWE as we speak and a big singles push could be in store for him down the line.

#3 Randy Orton

Randy Orton is the youngest world champion ever at 24

Randy Orton is one of the many that were born into the business, with his father being Bob Orton Jr. Interestingly, his debut came in Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling (MMWA-SICW) in his hometown of St Louis, where he trained and wrestled.

Orton was picked up by the WWE in around 2000 and was also a part of the ‘Golden’ OVW class. Although he was known for his bad attitude, he did do well and was brought into the main roster thanks to Triple H’s assembly of Evolution.

Down the line, he would go on to break Brock Lesnar’s record of being the youngest World Champion ever, by winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Benoit at SummerSlam 2004, at the age of 24.

After this, Orton would go on to become a multi-time world champion, and also the first ever WWE World Heavyweight Champion, a title which was unified at TLC 2013, where he faced John Cena in a TLC match. Orton is still a popular anti-hero, and is a resourceful asset to the WWE.

#4 Paige

Saraya-Jade Bevis, known as Paige in WWE, was also born into the business, however, into the independent wrestling business. Her family ran a company called World Association of Wrestling, and in 2005, age 13, Paige began wrestling for the minor crowds that would attend, under the ring name Brittany Knight.

Across the numerous European independent promotions that she wrestled in, Paige kept her ring name and became known for her dark, anti-heroine gimmick, complete with her hair extensions and piercings. It is worth noting that she was doing all of this alone, across different countries, as a teenager.

In her second WWE tryout, in 2011, Paige made it into the WWE and was sent to Florida Championship Wrestling, where she was to develop. As the promotion was rebranded into NXT, she went on a winning streak, until the inaugural NXT Women’s Champion was to be crowned in a tournament, which she won.

This was in June 2013, and less than a year later, still holding the NXT Championship, Paige won the Divas’ Championship from AJ Lee on her main roster debut, becoming the youngest ever, aged 21.

#5 Sasha Banks

Closing off this list is 23-year old Sasha Banks, current NXT Women’s Champion. Banks began her wrestling career as an 18-year old, wrestling for Chaotic Wrestling, under the ring name Mercedes KV. In the independent circuit,

The Boss was a part of many unorthodox matches, including mixed-gender and I Quit matches. She made a name for herself because of her ability to take big bumps, and eventually was signed by WWE following a tryout in 2012.

She was sent straight to NXT, where she lost to Paige on her debut. As time progressed, she developed her ‘Boss’ persona and formed an alliance with Summer Rae, known as the Beautiful, Fierce Females. Both women would begin to become dominant, defeating every team that came their way, until Summer was called up to the main roster, and Sasha began going after the NXT Women’s Championship.

After months of struggle, and defeat, Sasha eventually won it from Charlotte in a Fatal-Four-Way in February this year, and has held it since. Banks is also a part of the on-going Divas’ Revolution, as a part of Team B.A.D. along with Tamina and Naomi. And who will ever forget the masterpiece she put together with Becky Lynch earlier in the year.

Edited by Staff Editor